


Yonder, There Be Wolves

by AngstySuperSoldierGodmother



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF Number Five | The Boy, Drug Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Gen, Good Sibling Number Five | The Boy, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Has Issues, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus Hargreeves Whump, No Incest, Prostitution, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Sexual Harassment, Violence, a lot of getting angry out of love, but no actual prostitution takes place it just ALMOST does, u dont simply mess with a hargreeves sibling and survive Five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26174815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstySuperSoldierGodmother/pseuds/AngstySuperSoldierGodmother
Summary: "You've always been a pretty boy, haven't you Klaus?" and there was something cruel in the way he showed his teeth when he smirked at him, like a fox who's just found a rabbit with a broken leg.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 51
Kudos: 451





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is my first fic for this fandom, I really hope I don't mess up too much! :D  
> This is unbeta-ed, so I'm sorry for any possible mistakes!! If anyone wanted to give it a check I wouldn't mind, but if not, I'll come back to look for awkward phrasing and typos and stuff like that once I finish the story n_n for now, we die like men!!
> 
> Also, if you are sensitive to any of the tags featured in this fic and are looking for a more detailed description of the content in this story, please read the notes at the end of this chapter, mental health always comes first <3

He fidgeted in front of the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time, pulling at the hem of his dress shirt before catching himself and snatching his hand away. Undoing the second button before deciding against it and rebuttoning it. Shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

God, he was a mess.

There he was, in the best shirt and tightest pants he owned, gathering the courage to walk out into the streets, to... to...--

Klaus let out an exasperated sigh as he hastily unbuttoned his top and flung it across the room.

Even _he_ had to admit this was a new low for him.

He had always been a bit of a street rat. Sneaking out, hanging out on the wrong side of the tracks, running with the wrong crowds-- no 13 year old boy was going to be able to score weed from a _model fucking citizen_ that's for sure--, but still. He'd never done... this.

He ran his hands through his hair and let out a deep exhale, with a sudden need to avoid his own reflection.

"It's not such a big deal" he muttered to himself, reasoning "I used to do it all the time, for free. Guys, girls, you name it. What's so different about this?"

But no matter how many times he tried telling himself different iterations of the same story, the dread at the pit of his stomach refused to budge.

He was anxious. Which only made the familiar itch for drugs that much stronger. Which reminded him of what awaited him later at night if he didn't manage to score _something_. Which made him even more anxious, which only served to repeat the vicious circle in his head over and over and over again..

None of this would've even happened if he hadn't run into his dealer a couple of days ago while on an errand.

He was well aware that he didn't need to run any errands-- Mother was the one who usually took care of those kinds of things, either by scheduling the delivery of groceries or going to the store herself. But he had been trying to be a better brother, a more productive member of the family, a better overall _person_ now that they were all trying to coexist under the same roof. So he had woken up one day and appointed himself the responsability of bringing in a week's worth of groceries. The only person that had known what he was up to was Ben, since he hadn't told anyone except for Pogo, wh caught him on his way out. The chimp had only offered a gentle smile that served to both encourage and reassure Klaus in equal meassure, fueling him to throw himself into the task at hand with even more enthusiasm than before.

He was useful, he was productive, _he was being good_.

Then.. then it all went to hell.

He should've called Diego and asked him for a ride. 

He shouldn't have taken a shortcut down a certain well known alley.

He shouldn't have stopped when he heard his name being called over.

He shouldn't have presumed being capable of accomplishing even such a simple task (and somehow in the back of his mind, that thought resounded with the voice of a man who had uttered such similar words so, so many years ago...).

He shouldn't have left the house at all.

* * *

But he did. And before he knew it, he was batting his eyelashes and working all his old tricks to persuade his ex-dealer to let him score just one more time (it's always just one more time..) to the sound of Ben cursing up a storm next to him.

"You already owe me a fortune, Klaus" Jeremy had said, annoyance lacing his tone as he took a drag out of his cigarette and barely missed hitting Klaus' face when he let the smoke out "How the fuck are you supposed to afford another hit?"

For a moment, Klaus had thought about the money he had taken for the groceries, but he promptly pushed the thought out of his head. He wasn't going to betray his sibling's trust like that. Pogo's trust. Not after what they'd been through. Sure, he could rationalize all he wanted that a few hundred bucks wouldn't be missed from the massive eight figure inheritance that had been left behind by dear-ol-dad, but still.. it wasn't _his_ money, it was _their_ money. And he might not have given a flying fuck about spending all his allowance on drugs when it was Reginald dishing out the dough, but.. it was different now. Especially after the most recent events. He just couldn't bear the thought of spending _their_ money in something he knows for a fact his siblings would never approve of.

No, he'd have to figure this one out himself.

And honestly, who was he trying to fool? A few hundred bucks wasn't going to come close to settling the debt he owed Jeremy _and_ help him get his hands on some new primo stuff, anyway.

His troubled thoughts were interrupted by the sudden feeling of fingertips grazing his cheek, thumb catching on his lower lip before Klaus had the chance to jerk his head away.

"You've always been a pretty boy, haven't you Klaus?" and there was something cruel in the way he showed his teeth when he smirked at him, like a fox who's just found a rabbit with a broken leg.

Klaus suddenly went mute. A thick, uncomfortable silence filling the air around them. He didn't know what it was, but something had changed in Jeremy's demeanor in the last couple of minutes while Klaus had been busy with his spiel, a perverse glint in his eye, gone unheeded.

"Tell you what. You and I go way back, so I'm going to be nice and make you an offer I rarely make. I'm going to give you a chance to settle your debt with me _and_ in the meantime, get access to some of the new stuff I've been getting."

Klaus knew what he wanted before he even asked what it was.

Jeremy's smirk widened "Oh, you know. Just a couple of favors. Just a couple of friends who I think would like to meet cha. You've always been such a people person..." he was leaning in so close, Klaus could smell the putrid stench coming from his breath as it ghosted on his face. He wanted to pull away, but he felt paralyzed to the spot. Not even Ben's indignant squawks could pull him away from the trance he seemed to be in.

He felt one of Jeremy's fingers lightly probe his lips before he said "Open up", and before he knew it, it was in his mouth, feeling out the insides of his cheek and rubbing against his tongue. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. He didn't want to obey, but his body seemed to be reacting on its own in lieu of Klaus' frozen brain.

Before he knew it, his mouth was empty again, with only the foul taste of dirt and God knows what else left behind "Yeah... I think they'll like you very much."

He heard the rest of what Jeremy had to say in a half-awake state. Aware enough to understand what was being said--how he couldn't give him an exact number of visits that it would take to settle his debt (he owed him quite a pretty penny, after all).. how he didn't have to worry, because Jeremy would be _kind_ enough to supply him with the good stuff while he worked off his debt instead of making him wait... how he should do his best to look alluring for his friends, maybe wear that pretty leather choker that made him look so good way back when...how he expected to hear from him before the end of the week.. how maybe he would take that soft mouth for a test run himself-- but numb enough that he surprised himself making his way back home before his brain had time to catch up with the fact that the conversation had even ended.

"...aus! Did you hear what I said?" Ben's concerned voice was finally carried to his consciousness.

"..What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. Are you ok?" they were power-walking back to the Academy, but Klaus felt no need to slow down any time soon, so he didn't.

"I... " he found himself at a loss for words. 

"What a _fucking_ creep! You should've let me materialize so I could punch the daylights out of that asshole!" Somewhere in the back of Klaus' mind, a little voice made a note that he couldn't remember ever hearing Ben use as many curse words as he had in the last 15 minutes, but the knowledge was easily disregarded.

He was suddenly very aware of his own breathing and he found himself wanting nothing more than to find himself back inside the solid walls of the Hargreeves estate as soon as possible. For some reason, he couldn't stand the feeling of the cool breeze gently caressing his arms and for the first time in his life, he actually wished he had picked something more modest to wear than his usual tank tops.

Ben was still busy ranting and desecrating Jeremy's name in every verbal way possible, and if Klaus didn't know him better, he could've sworn he detected a hint of hysteria in his voice "...I couldn't believe my goddamn ears-- and who the hell does he think he is touching you like that?! I swear to God, I could've killed that fucking asshole..."

Klaus didn't know exactly what made his eyes sting in that moment. The violating nature of what had just transpired, or the fact that he knew he was going to do it anyway.

* * *

And that's how Klaus had found himself in this situation.

Because the truth is, Reginald had been right about him all along. He _was_ weak.

He'd been too weak as a kid to get a grip of his powers, too weak to bring any significant contribution to their team missions aside from being "the lookout", too weak to do anything about Ben, when he needed him most...

...too weak to let Ben go into the light that he so deserved, when the time came...

How could he have ever thought he would be strong enough to resist temptation indefinitely?

A life marred by disappointment and mediocrity. The notion seemed laughable now.

He could still see it in his sibling's eyes, how he was more of a bother and a burden than anything else. How they refused to delegate any real responsabilities to him because he was expected to fuck up at every turn. How they kept assuming he had fallen off the wagon every second or third day. How they blatantly avoided his company at times because he wasn't expected to bring much to the table.

The worst part was? He couldn't even blame them. Because he _was_ all those things they suspected him to be. Untrustworthy, unreliable, liar, junkie, dumb, flaky, fuck-up,

weak,

weak,

weak.

And the pills.. well, the pills made everything a bit less unbearable. Including the knowledge of being himself.

Jeremy had reminded him of that truth.

Ben had been furious when he had thought he was considering Jeremy's offer. Livid when he realized he had already made up his mind about going through with it. He had screamed his head off for almost 2 hours before he stormed out of the room. And for the next day and a half, he'd spent his time swinging between unbridled rage, desperate cajoling and choked up disbelief until finally he had disappeared, off to wander somewhere Klaus could no longer disappoint him.

He sighed. 

He turned to his closet and decided to throw one of Diego's old denim jackets that he had stolen once upon a time over his bare torso. He dispassionately fixed his eyeliner until the word _"alluring"_ made sense in the context of the purpose of his business with Jeremy's friends.

He gave himself a onceover in the mirror before Jeremy's voice resonated in his head once again:

_...maybe wear that pretty leather choker that made you look so good..._

He turned his eyes over his closet, his bed, his desk until they landed on the desired object. He removed it from the corner of the mirror it was resting on and took a moment to feel the leather between his fingers before he left his room without glancing back, door swinging shut behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus had always been shit at concealing his emotions.
> 
> Something about this whole scene wasn't adding up.
> 
> What the hell had Klaus gotten himself into, now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! So here it is! the second chapter! :D  
> Ok so I LIED!! This is NOT the last chapter I'M SORRY!! But Five just got away from me!! D: But it is DEFINITELY going to be a three-part story. 
> 
> This chapter has content that is a bit stronger than the last one, so please, if any of the tags make you uncomfortable in any way and you're not sure if you're ok reading this, I strongly encourage you to check the end notes for a more detailed description of the stuff that some people may find upsetting <3

Five was not an uncaring person, despite what his reputation with his siblings may be.

As a matter of fact, much to his own chagrin, one could even accuse him of bordering on downright romantic and sentimental when it came to the people he loved. After all, what is more romantic than hoping against hope for _decades_ to bend the will of time and the universe itself to stop an impending apocalypse for the sole purpose of saving your siblings from a certain death?

His biggest weakness had always been his deep love for his family. They were the one thing capable of bringing him to his knees in a matter of seconds.

The fact that they seemed blissfully unaware of this fact, seemed rather ironic to him.

He supposed it couldn't be helped. They were young, and their perspective on things had been quite different to his own. They didn't understand the true weight of holding a candle for an impossible dream for more than forty years, the hardship of maintaining yourself sane for the duration of that period because _you know_ the only hope of finding a way out of this is with an intact mind. All they had known for almost two decades was that Five had gotten into an argument with their father over dinner, had stormed out and had never been seen or heard from again. Most of them had probably assumed that he had gotten fed up with his family, found somewhere better to be and decided to forget all about his past life (even though the very notion of willingly _abandoning_ his siblings seemed preposterous to Five).

Still, he was in no hurry to correct their assumptions of him.

It wasn't that he relished in his reputation of being a "heartless bastard", as Diego had once put it. It's that... Five simply could not see the importance of making his true feelings clear to his siblings.

Vanya had already once tried --in what he could only suppose was the girl's very best attempt at subtlety, bless her heart-- to gently coax him into being more, ah, how had she put it? "Emotionally open", with his siblings? Which had earned her a very blank, very perplexed stare.

In any case, Five assumed that if breaking your contract with literal Agents of Time just to go back to an apocalypse after 45 years and deal with getting stuck in perpetual puberty just to save them didn't prove he cared even a _little_ , well then... what could?

Anyway, these were things that he really preferred not to spend his time thinking about.

Feelings were.. messy. Complicated. Arbitrary. Downright _nonsensical_ at times.

Five could deal with a lot of problems as long as they didn't pertain to matters of the heart. He never did quite work out how to effectively deal with those, and he had been stranded in an apocalypse before he could manage to figure it out.

He could match Luther's brashness with brashness of his own. He could deal with Diego calling him a son of a bitch by calling him a moron in turn. And Vanya had always had such a special way of being incredibly vulnerable without making things too uncomfortable. 

He would rather face an army of hitmen than have to deal with Allison's tears, though.

It was just... infuriating, is what it was. 

Because the truth was, that when he saw any of his siblings in emotional distress, Five felt incredibly... powerless.

Suddenly, all those years training to become the time continuum's greatest assassin were worth absolute shit when it came to saving his siblings from pain. And he was forced to face the inexorable truth that there was nothing to cut down, nothing to shoot at that would make it go away.

There was no... tangible way of fighting those kinds of demons. He couldn't solve it. _He couldn't make it better_.

He couldn't make Allison stop hurting from the pain of being away from his daughter for so long.

He couldn't cure Ben's loneliness as a soul detached from the world of the living.

He couldn't save Klaus from the voices that he knew tormented him late at night when no one was watching and there was no one to fake a smile to.

Yeah. Five was very much aware that the whimpers he heard when the night was darkest and everyone was sleeping belonged to their séance. He was aware of the deep circles under his eyes and the thousand yard stare that (presumably) Ben would eventually have to shake him out of. He knew how restless he could get sometimes when the cravings got too bad and how that would lead him to being even more boisterous and obnoxious than usual.

Because this is what Five did. He noticed all the little things, all the little changes and ticks that made up every single one of his siblings.

Because God help him, he cared. He cared so intensely it fucking hurt and it _scared_ Five. It scared him how good it felt when he heard Allison's bubbly laughter whenever she was talking to her daughter on the phone. It scared him how important it was to him that Ben knew they thought of him as part of the group, even if the rest of them couldn't see him (which is why he found himself deliberately finding excuses to ask Klaus for Ben's opinion on x, y or z topics every now and again). It scared him how deep his heart ached every time he could tell Klaus was having a bad day to cope with his addictions.

It scared him how much his general well being and mental stability seemed to depend on something as fragile as other people's _happiness_.

He'd once told The Handler that he wasn't looking for happy. Which in retrospect, had only been a half truth. He may not have been striving for _his_ happiness, specifically, but it was evident now that he was fighting for _some_ kind of happiness.

Which is why he thinks he followed Klaus when he went out on that particular day.

If you'd asked Five point blank what exactly made him do it, he wouldn't have been able to give a straight answer. Maybe it was the ominous way one of the kitchen cabinets slightly swung open in that particular moment that made him look up in the first place, but.. It wasn't just one thing, it was more a set of things that he couldn't quite pinpoint that were wrong with a certain picture. It was a feeling that something was off, _wrong_ with Klaus when he saw him walk down the stairs, quiet as a mouse, and straight to the door without so much as a glance to see if anyone was around, nothing but the slight creak of the door to warn of his swift exit.

If he'd looked, he would've seen that Five had been in the middle of serving himself his 4th cup of coffee of the day and had clear view of both the stairs and the foyer.

He didn't know if it was his training as an assassin or brotherly instincts talking, but there were a bunch of red flags standing in attention in his head at the sight of Klaus scurrying out of the house like that.

There was something about his gait and the slope of his shoulders.. some kind of guilt... _shame?_ And an _urgency_..

Before he knew it, he had already blinked to the front porch, just in time to see Klaus' figure disappear around the corner a couple of blocks away.

He couldn't blink all the way to where Klaus was lest he risk getting caught red-handed by his younger brother, so he settled for following from a few blocks away, expertly ducking behind cars and zig-zaging from one corner of a street to another.

A part of him thought he was being silly and paranoid, following his own brother around when he was probably just off doing... well, whatever it was that Klaus got busy doing on a normal day. He probably also looked like a lunatic, and he just hoped to whatever higher power existed that no annoying pedestrian would blow his cover.

Because a part of him kind of wanted to believe that he was just being paranoid old Five, too used to fighting for his life at every turn, too used to enemies jumping out from the least expected places ready to attack, to accept a normal, peaceful life. That would mean that it was all in his head and that his siblings, that _Klaus_ was ok, he wasn't in any kind of trouble. It wasn't agitation that he had perceived earlier, it was all Five, seeing things that weren't there anymore, like a lone shepherd that still counts his sheep every morning and every night even after decades without wolf sightings.

He wanted to believe that. Still... the tightness in his chest wasn't letting up, and if Five had ever had anything, for better or for worse, it was good instincts. They were what kept him fed, what enabled him to find water and shelter in that barren wasteland for four decades.

A car honked loudly behind him and he scrambled to find cover behind a parked pickup truck, aborting his motion to cross the street, cursing under his breath.

He waited a couple of extra seconds before he peeked from above the truck bed, just in time to see Klaus' silhouette disappear down an alley.

For some reason, his stomach dropped at the sight.

 _What the fuck?_ , he thought. It was reminiscent of old times when Klaus would sneak out at night to the clubs or to some of his "friend's" houses, only to come back smelling of dope and cigarettes, stumbling through the window, pupils blown to hell. Their father had almost gone aphonic having screaming sessions with Klaus in his office, before sending him off to mausoleums as a form of punishment which would, of course, only encourage Klaus to indulge in drugs even _further_.

Five unconsciously bristled. For being such a supposedly brilliant man, their father could sure be clueless when it came to raising children.

He cautiously approached the mouth of the alley, peeking inside only to find that Klaus was gone.

"Shit!" he cursed, not even bothering to hide behind the wall anymore, looking frantically from one side to another, finding nothing.

He ran down the alley as fast as he could to where the end met the next street, only to be met with yet again, nothing. Nothing but a few cars driving by and one or two pedestrians on the sidewalk.

He fucking _lost_ him.

He scanned the area, trying to ascertain the most probable course of action for Klaus to take, but he drew a blank. Every alley, every lane looked just as shady as the next and it was impossible to pick out one in particular when you didn't even know what the _fuck_ you were looking for.

He let out a growl of frustration as he kicked the curb.

"Come on, Klaus!" he said between clenched teeth "Where the hell did you _go_?"

Suddenly, as if in response to his inquiry, a plastic bag danced in his periphery before flying off to Five's left and getting stuck on a street post that read "McLaren" from what Five could see.

 _I guess that's as good a choice as any_ he thought, a bit hysterical, letting his increasing sense of urgency carry him to the street opening.

He sneaked a peek inside, only to catch a glimpse of two men conversing quietly on one of the sidewalks a few yards away.

"Klaus." he muttered, as he recognized his brother, slightly hunched into himself as he listened to whatever the other man was telling him, badly concealed anxiety oozing from every pore.

Klaus had always been shit at concealing his emotions.

Something about this whole scene wasn't adding up.

If this was a relapse and Klaus was meeting this guy to score.. why were they still talking? Dealers tend to not want to spend too much time dealing, just in case the wrong pair of eyes happens to be close by. They also tend to want to do their business as swiftly and low-key as possible so as to not attract attention... but these guys were meeting in some shady ass street, in a shady ass neighbourhood, speaking in hushed voices, one of them looking like he's about to puke his guts out and they were just... _waiting around_.

It just didn't make any sense.

What the hell had Klaus gotten himself into now?

The tall guy, whatever his name was, put a hand on Klaus' shoulder and squeezed. Five felt his skin crawl. He willed his younger brother to shake the damn hand off or slap it away or _something_ , but instead he saw him meet the guy's gaze and nod slightly.

And just like that, the other guy was fiddling with his keys for a moment and opening the gate of the small, decadent looking apartment they had been standing in front of all the while. The man reached the door and opened it, Klaus following him inside.

As soon as the door closed, Five started slowly approaching the apartment, which was looking more and more shaggy as he paid closer attention to it.

It was small, square and unkept in every sense of the word. He'd be surprised if anyone was actually living in the premises in its current condition. So if no one was actually living there, it had to be being used for something, a reunion spot maybe, but... reunion spot for _what_?

When he finally reached the gate, Five took one last furtive glance around to make sure nobody was watching before blinking himself inside.

A foul stench immediatly flooded his nostrils and he had to fight back the urge to cough, gag or both. He hurried to put his nose in the crook of his arm as he took in the sight before him.

As he expected, not much furniture, not much evidence of any actual _living_. He seemed to be inside a small 10x10 living room, a chipped wooden table on one corner of the room with lines of what he assumed _wasn't_ sugar and a few pills scattered about. There was something yellow and brown splattered on one of the walls that could be either vomit or something else entirely, but either way Five was _determined_ to ignore it. He noticed there was a small congregation of flies on a black looking thing set on a plate on the table which Five assumed was meant to be for human consumption at some point. The floor was stained in different shades and it was sticky to the touch of his shoe.

Jesus H Christ, what a shithole.

His focus was pulled away from his disgust when he heard voices coming from a room down the hall.

He surreptitiously made his way down the hall, to the one room it lead to that had its door closed. He could see the movement of shadows from the light escaping the fine crack beneath the door. The closer he got to it, the clearer the voices became.

His carefully calculated movements betrayed the heart pounding wildly in his chest that was all but screaming at him to swing the door open and look inside.

But he didn't.

Instead, noticing the door wasn't completely closed and actually slightly ajar, he leaned his face in as much as humanly possible without exerting any pressure, to take in the scene before him.

* * *

Klaus felt himself draw a sharp breath.

There was silence as different pairs of eyes settled themselves on him.

"You didn't tell me there would be more than one person here." he finally said, a bit tightly.

"Didn't I?" asked Jeremy with obviously feigned wonder as he settled down on the sunken couch to Klaus' left. Right next to him was a man that must've been at least a decade older than both him and Klaus, balding spot shining beneath the harsh light of the cheap light bulb above them. The second man looked roughly the same age as the first one, only he seemed to be fortunate enough to have hit the genetic jackpot that allowed him to keep all his hair. He was sitting a bit awkwardly on a rusty old folding chair to Klaus' left, which looked like it had been brought in last second in the absence of another couch to sit in. Klaus noted that they both seemed to be slightly better put together than most of the people Jeremy usually frequented. "I distinctly remember saying I wanted to introduce you to a couple of _friends_ of mine. It's not my fault they didn't teach you the meaning of _plural_ in that funny academy of yours."

"Hey Jer, you weren't lying when you said your friend was cute." the third man leered, shifting slightly from his position leaning against one of the walls. He was the youngest and most shabby looking of them all, Klaus calculated his age to be somewhere between his mid to late thirties, but a life of decadence had probably taken its toll, making his eyes look sunken and his hair fall flat.

"Didn't I tell ya? I wouldn't have dragged your asses all the way over here if I didn't have something worth your while."

"So it really is true, then?" said baldy, his eyes taking their time raking down his frame. Klaus barely repressed the urge to squirm. "You were one of those super-brats that the magazines used to talk about?"

Klaus swallowed a bit awkwardly, trying to keep his eyes from darting back to the bare, ratty old mattress that was sitting on the floor, in the middle of the room.

He had known Ben wasn't going to be around to witness this, and to be honest, he hadn't wanted him to. A part of him had been grateful when he had stormed out that last time and hadn't come back the next day. The last thing he needed was to have his judgemental eyes watching him as he managed to find yet another way to defile himself on top of everything else.

He hadn't wanted him to be there to witness his rock bottom.

But that was then and this was now. And now, oh, how he _wished_ he had Ben's presence next to him to ground him, to ease him down from the impending doom. To remind him to breathe through it, to distract him with another one of his witticisms so he could laugh about something that only they two can hear, dignity be damned.

He gave a sharp nod, trying to keep his composure.

"Oh my god" the second man said, recrossing his legs as a look between wonderment and hunger painted his features "I remember you. You were the slick one. Yeah, the one that was always cracking jokes with the cameras. I was... a very big fan of yours in college."

Klaus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, averting his eyes right when the man slid his hand over his pants to reach his crotch.

"Hey Klaus" snapped Jeremy, his face suddenly re-arranging into a scowl "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Wh-wh-" Klaus stammered, as Jeremy got up from the couch in one swift movement to stand right in front of him, his hands resting on both his shoulders.

"I ain't paying you to just _stand there_. Show them what they're working with."

Without waiting for an answer, Jeremy peeled the jacket off of Klaus' body and discarded it to a corner of the room.

And just like that, as Klaus saw the jacket-- _Diego's_ jacket-- fall and touch the filthy floor, he felt as if the last remaining protective barrier between himself and this absolute _inferno_ of a situation finally gave way.

Suddenly, all he could feel was cold. 

Cold 

and utterly, 

utterly 

alone.

He hadn't noticed he had stopped breathing for a few seconds until he felt himself gasp a lungfull of air.

This isn't right.

This isn't right.

He needed to get out.

He needed to get out NOW.

"I don't..." he took a step backwards.

"Hey, hey, hey" said Jeremy, with mock reassurance as he put his arm around Klaus' bare shoulders. 

Klaus felt himself start to shiver.

"It's ok... don't freak out on me, alright Klaus? We're almost there. This is _very_ important for me. You know how important this is for me, don't cha? You and I, we made a _deal_. That you were going to entertain some of my.. special friends" Jeremy glanced briefly at the other three men before turning to look back at Klaus "and in return, you and I are going to get..." he drew a box with his index finger in the air "...squared. Remember: you _owe_ me this, Klaus. This is _me_ doing _you_ a favor. So don't start getting things confused in that pretty little head of yours this late in the game." the arm around his shoulders had morphed more into a headlock than a friendly embrace as Jeremy used his hold to sway both their bodies back and forth, back and forth..

Klaus' heart felt like it was going to explode in his chest. He was nauseous. He was getting dizzy with how loudly every single self-preservation alarm in his subconscious was screaming at him to _get out_.

For a moment, he thought about conjuring Ben. But.. what would that do? He didn't think he was strong enough to replicate what they managed in Vanya's concert. He'd only be conjuring him to witness the ugly consequences of playing with fire.. what they all told him would happen..

He could feel his mind start to slip from him, and no no _no_ this was _not_ the time, this was the time to run, to fight back, something, _anything_ would be better than to freeze like this--

But it was no use, it's as it always happened when under a situation of a particular kind of stress, whenever he felt trapped and _alone_ and a child's voice so much like his own in the back of his mind saying _father isn't going to come back any time soon, is he.._

He tries shaking his head to clear himself of the images of white tombs and the feeling of cold marble floors and he's so helpless, he's always been so fucking _helpless_ \--

And he's fucking gone

And the world is spinning

And the voices are so fucking loud, and they keep calling his name in that tortured, inhuman way they always do

and he wants to fucking tear his ears off, gauge his eyes off--

He wants to fucking _die_

And it makes sense, really, because--

His father... Reginald had always told him... that if he kept going on like this, one day, he...

...it was like in those children's stories. The ones where there is a virtuous mother and a bullheaded daughter. And the mother warns the daughter every day about the dangers lurking in the woods. She speaks of monsters and bears and wolves. But the little girl, she... she just wants to take the shortcut through the woods... she just wants... he wants... she wants for the hurt to...--

"Please..." he hears himself whimper, and he doesn't even know to whom he is pleading to anymore. His vision is so blurry, all he sees is shadows.

"It's ok baby" he hears one of the men's voices say in his ear, a hand groping down his chest all the way to his stomach.

"You have the prettiest little lips" another one says "I always noticed."

There are hands pushing him down, down, down until he is falling on his knees. He is sure he is hyperventilating now. Someone is grabbing him by the hair, by his arms holding them in place, and he hears something unzip and a moan and somebody is still grabbing him by the hair so hard he thinks it's going to tear right off his scalp--

He feels hands come from behind him, start undoing his fly. He instinctively jerks away, until he he's forced to make a choking sound as he feels a sudden pressure on his throat that he only later recognizes as somebody pulling at the leather around his neck.

"You wore it." he heard Jeremy say, sounding a bit breathless, as he continues to fumble with Klaus' trousers, and Klaus only realizes he's pulling them down because of the cold that he can feel hitting his skin "I'm so fucking glad."

A blue flash.

Hands freeze.

Klaus feels a shiver run down his spine as he hears a sound come from behind him, one that startles everyone in the room.

And maybe he really _is_ back in the mausoleum, and maybe he's finally had an encounter with one of those famous demons everyone keeps talking about because it's a low, guttural thing that Klaus hears, something he has the presence of mind to think it could only ever have a place coming from the deepest bowels of hell, dragging out every single syllable in an ugly growl as if it wasn't in its nature to form actual words.

He wouldn't have recognized it as human if the voice wasn't so familiar.

"What... the _fuck_... do you think you are you doing?" he heard Five seethe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end ahhh!! I'm so sorry this was such a bummer of a chapter but I PROMISE next chapter is nothing but the good stuff... brotherly feels... protectiveness.. hurt/comfort...retribution... ahh yes.. all that good stuff. It just had to get bad before it gets better you know?  
> Also I added a tag because of the events of this chapter. If you think I should tag something else don't hesitate to tell me n_n
> 
> Edit: So I already know what is gonna happen but I was debating on whether we should start the events of next chapter from Klaus or Five's POV... what would you guys like to see? :) Drop me a comment if you have a preference either way, cause honestly it's all the same to me ;*
> 
> Sensitive content in this chapter:
> 
> -Klaus goes into the meeting he set up with Jeremy not knowing that there are actually three men that he's supposed to service instead of one  
> -The three men are fucking creeps, scum of the earth ok? and there may be something implying that at least one of them felt a sick attraction towards Klaus when he was 13 and famous. Considering these men are established to be at least a decade older than him, that means that these guys were 23 or older when they started having these kinds of thoughts, so... yikes.  
> -It is very obvious that Klaus does not like what is going on but the men coerce him into taking off his jacket and kneeling and almost engaging in sexual contact with them, that is... until the end happens :P


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world was filled with fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god... I can't believe it's FINALLY done!
> 
> I wanna thank every single person who stuck with this fic, who commented, left me kudos, bookmarked it--you name it! You guys are superheroes :'v Every time I felt discouraged, I would receive a lovely, lovely comment from one of you guys and it would inspire me to keep going!
> 
> It makes me so happy to see that something I made has brought people any kind of enjoyment <3 I hope you like this final (and honestly kind of long lmao) installment... hey, I had a lot of loose endings to tie off, don't @ me!! ;_;
> 
> Anyway... without further ado, here it is! :D I hope you like it!

The world was painted red.

The world was filled with _fire_.

The memory of his baby brother, who could be accused of being many things-- lazy, self-centered, obnoxious--, but who at the end of the day, turned out to be a way better man than he had any right to be under the circumstances of their childhood... Klaus, who had somehow still managed to become a _good person_ \--caring, compassionate, certainly _kinder_ than this world could ever hope to deserve---would be forever seared into Five's brain as four men forced him on his knees by his hair, by a _collar_ , like a fucking _dog_ , hands restraining his arms, touching his chest, his face, the one in front of Klaus had his fly undone and the one behind him had his filthy hands still grasping at the fabric of his brother's pants, that had been peeled over the curve of his--

He didn't even realize what he was doing until he came to his senses, on top of the man who had his fly undone, people making various sounds of surprise and distress in the background. His thumbs were pressing into the man's eyes, there was blood trickling down his face as he screamed trying and failing to throw Five off of him.

Five pressed _harder_ , until his thumbs were knuckle-deep inside the man's eyesockets. The man's scream reached peak intensity as his arms flailied around him wildly before being overtaken by a full-body convulsion.

Five stood up, leaving the man to writhe blindly in agony on the floor, and turned to look at the other three who were in various states of shock.

 _"W-What the fuck?"_ said one of them with wild eyes, looking from the man on the floor back to Five "W-Who te fuck do you think you--"

Before he could finish the sentence Five had already blinked at an arm's distance of the man, smashing his face with the metal fold-up chair, the force of impact making him topple backwards onto the floor with a loud crack.

He saw the bald guy lunge at him from his periphery with a taser, which Five easily redirected to his own neck before blinking to his blind spot, taking him from the collar of his shirt and using the same momentum the man had created to crash him face first into the wall once, twice, _thrice_ , until he saw a few teeth fly off with a burst of blood coming from his mouth, a nice red splotch decorating the surface of the wall. He let the dead weight of the unconscious man crash into the floor.

He turned his body in a defensive stance towards what should be the last man standing.

But there was nothing.

Five's eyes darted around the room scanning in case the man was lying in wait in some corner ready to pounce, until his eyes landed on the fragile looking figure of his brother, crumpled against the wall, bare chest rising and falling with agitated breaths, shoulders up to his ears, his face ashen, beads of sweat dampening his temples... his pants were still halfway down... and his eyes... he was looking at Five like... like...--

Five felt his eyes clear, his maddened rage settling into a focused, cold sort of fury. He could feel his nostrils still flaring so he tried to calm his breathing down, the sound of his steady inhales and exhales the only sound filling the room as both Klaus and Five stared at one another.

After a beat Five finally decided he couldn't stand it anymore, so he approached Klaus with steady steps ignoring the way the séance flinched at his sudden proximity. He bent over to grab at the waist belt of his brother's pants, ignoring the inherent uncomfortableness of the operation, in favor of pulling them up rather brusquely and forcing Klaus to stand on shaky legs.

He zipped up and buttoned the taller man's pants with mechanical efficiency, before finally taking a step back, suddenly wanting to look anywhere but at his brother.

He tried brushing a disheveled strand of hair off his forehead, realizing only after that his hand came off bloody.

His face was probably a mess.

He wiped his hands on his uniform under the pretense of smoothing out some wrinkles on the fabric before straightening his back and nodding to himself.

His barely kept composure almost cracked when his eyes refocused on Klaus.

"I'd say it was about time we left, wouldn't you agree?" he finally said, weariness seeping into his voice as he walked out of the room.

* * *

The walk home was unbearable.

Out of all the people who could've witnessed such a fiasco, Five was probably the worst one.

How he even knew about what was going to happen didn't even matter at this point.

He knew he was still in shock by the way he couldn't even zip up his own damn pants a few moments earlier. The memory of that humiliating little detail, on top of everything else like the cherry on top of a very fucked up cake, made him want to shrivel up and _die_.

Five was still not looking at him, but it was ok, because Klaus couldn't bring himself to look at his brother, either.

What could he think of him? Any hopes he could've had of gaining _any_ ammount of respect from Five's part had died with that little shitshow.

He jumped when he felt a hand grabbing at his elbow halfway home, only to see Five shifting uncomfortably beside him. It seemed as though he'd been about to comment about Klaus' reaction to his touch, but decided against it, opting to look straight ahead.

A flash of blue, a whirlwind of places and sounds and suddenly they were standing in front of the very gates of the Academy.

Without warning, Klaus felt a surge of bile rising in his throat as he bent over and proceeded to puke his guts out onto a cluster of nearby bushes with a hurling sound.

He waited until it felt like he had tapped out before using his wrist to absentmindedly rub at his lips, his eyes glancing off to Five's direction on their own volition. Ah, so he hadn't quite managed to make it to the green without one of his brother's shoes suffering some collateral damage.

Five looked _pissed_.

Klaus couldn't help but shrink into himself.

"Sorry." He said, hoarsely.

"Get up." Five ground out, grabbing him by the elbow-- a lot gentler than Klaus had honestly expected-- and proceeded to guide him towards the mansion.

Klaus stopped cold when they had reached the entryway. Five turned to look at him expectantly.

"I don't want them to see me like this" he said, quietly. What he actually meant was _If the others see us walk into the house like this they'll inevitably ask questions, and I'll have to explain to them what a fuck up of a person their brother actually is._

Five's scowl deepened, and for a second Klaus thought he was about to get himself kicked into the house anyway, but then he saw Five nod sharply, grab him by the arm once more and after another flash they were both upstairs standing in Klaus' bedroom. 

Klaus screwed his eyes shut for a moment to fight the queasiness of not being used to teleporting.

"Wait here." he heard Five say, and when he turned to look he was already gone.

He looked around his room. Everything was exactly as he had left it earlier in the day, only for some reason he couldn't help feeling significantly _smaller_ now that he was back.

He shivered a little. Had it always been this cold?

He rubbed at his arms a little before looking down at himself and being greeted with the sight of his bare chest. The memory came back to him with a jolt.

_The jacket._

In his haste to follow Five out of that damn apartment he'd left it there.

Discarded.

Forgotten.

He felt his eyes start to water uncontrollably as he gazed out the window, his eyes focusing on nothing in particular.

It was too late to go back. Even if he could, Klaus didn't think he could conjure up the grit to actually do it.

Goddammit, he felt like a little boy again. Crying his eyes out because he lost his blanky.

But he couldn't help it. That jacket had belonged to _Diego_. And more importantly, it was the only reminder he'd been able to keep of his brother when he'd left the house at 17 years of age.

He remembered it so clearly.

The way he'd been threatening to leave for months on end. How his screaming matches with their father had become more and more commonplace with each passing week. How he'd become ever more reticient to follow Reginald's orders on missions, sometimes going as far as to endanger the very mission just to get his way, much to their father's scorn. 

And then one day, when Klaus had been walking down the corridor he'd heard angry muttering coming from Diego's room. He'd peeked inside to find his brother angrily shoving articles of clothing as well as other items into a suitcase, haphazerdly. Klaus' heart had skipped a beat at the sight, whatever witty comment he'd been about to make dying in his throat at the sight of another brother of his leaving him behind _yet again_.

He knew it wasn't personal. It had nothing to do with _him_ , actually. He knew that.

But still, Klaus couldn't help feeling his little heart break because he knew once his brother left he would be gone for good.

Diego had barely glanced in his direction, but he noticed the way his jaw clenched after taking note of Klaus' arrival.

"The day's finally come, huh?" Klaus had said in his usual breathy bordering-on-whimsical tone, trying his best for levity even though he'd barely managed a lopsided twitch in lieu of a smile.

"Yep" Diego had said, popping the "p" and spinning around avoiding his eye, as if looking for something specific to cram into the already overloaded suitcase.

"You finally gonna give in and bestow upon _your favorite brother_ that _fabulous_ denim vision as a going away present?" he'd said, pointing a blue fingernail at the aforementioned piece of clothing that laid on the bed.

"First of all, my favorite brother was Ben," Diego responded almost on automatic, then paused, taking in the fragile smile playing on Klaus' lips, the sadness in his eyes "...second of all, you already have enough stolen clothes in your closet to last you three lifetimes. In other words, the jacket stays with me," he lifted a knife from one of his holsters and pointed at Klaus "under pain of death."

Klaus had managed to snatch it away anyway in a moment that Diego wasn't paying attention, and had scurried back into his room.

If Diego noticed the jacket missing, he never said a word.

That was the last time in 17 years Klaus ever saw him.

But that had always been their dynamic, especially after Five disappeared and Ben had died. Protectiveness had always come naturally to Diego, he'd always had an affinity for the weak and vulnerable, and Klaus, well.. Klaus could be accused of being both things for most if not all of his life. When Diego left, Klaus felt strangely... naked, _exposed_ to the twists and turns of the world, and having that jacket with him made the subsequent decadent years of Klaus' life a bit more manageable. It felt as if he carried a little piece of his brother with him, wherever he went. That no matter what he did, no matter what happened, no matter where he woke up that morning, everything would be ok at the end because somehow Diego was still there, protecting him.

And now... now all of that was fucking _gone_.

"Klaus?"

He whipped his head around to find Five hovering in the doorway, a pained expression crossing his features "You ok?"

It took Klaus a second to remember that _oh, right_ , Five had said he'd be back. He was supposed to wait for.. something.

"Yeah." he answered, doing his best to swallow down the lump in his throat.

"You're crying."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"Huh." He wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands and inhaled sharply, as if that made everything ok.

Five seemed to hesitate.

"...Anyway... I ran you a warm bath... there's fresh towels in there, also." A beat. "You gonna be ok?"

Klaus scoffed, feeling a pang of irritation at Five's awkward babying.

"Yeah, you know I'm not suddenly an _invalid_ just because I almost got myself--" his mouth snapped shut at the last second.

What was he going to say? That he almost got himself gang-raped? Tortured? Murdered, perhaps even? _All of the above_? 

They were both acutely aware of how grave the situation had been for Klaus, how _close_ he'd come to having something beyond horrendous happen to him, something you just don't come back from, at least not _whole_.

Saying it aloud almost made it too real.

Klaus looked down a bit, apologetically, before risking a glance at his older brother. 

Five's eyes had widened a bit, his lips pressed into a thin line, fists bunched up at his sides. As if Klaus' words, or more like, Klaus' implications had sent a current of lightning down his spine.

Aw, shit.

Not only had the little chief had to drag him out of that shithole, now Klaus was making it _worse_ for him by reminding him of the unpleasantness, the _embarrassment_ of having to witness one of your brothers in such a compromising situation for no other reason than sheer stupidity, when all Five probably wanted to do was forget he ever saw what he saw.

When his brother didn't move, just stood there like a statue, ramrod straight for a few more seconds, Klaus' brow began to furrow slightly.

"Um.. you ok?" he ventured.

Five finally let out a deep exhale, obviously forcing himself to relax his hands.

"Of course. Anyway.. let me know if you need anything."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

Klaus heaved a heavy sigh as he hurried to cuckoon himself in his bed sheets.

It had been a long time since he felt such deep appreciation for his bed.

His hair was still a bit damp from the bath, but he was wearing clothes that actually smelled good and felt soft, so he couldn't really bring himself to care about dampening his pillow a little.

He tried pushing aside the darkness in his mind that whispered awful alternative scenarios to the one at hand, such as how close he came to not being able to enjoy the comfyness of his bed or the pleasant smell of freshly dried clothes again.

If it had been up to Jeremy and his friends, who knows where he would've ended up tonight. Who knows what other sick shit they'd had in store, because one thing was clear now: whatever they had been planning for him, was completely off the books even for street hustling standards. Why else lie about the ammount of Johns? Why else pick the abandoned location in the shady neighbourhood?

It made Klaus shudder to think about it. And he really, really would prefer to simply be able to go to bed and not stay up all night thinking about the different ways those twisted fucks had been planning to pick him apart, thank you very much.

He closed his eyes, trying and failing to fall to sleep when he felt the familiar presence.

"Why, pray tell, have you been sneaking around like that? You know I can feel you when you're around, anyway." He mumbled.

A pause.

"How long have you known I was around?" he heard Ben ask, quietly.

Klaus snorted.

"Well, let's see... you weren't exactly subtle when you were tailing us, on our way home. Or when I was taking a bath. Honestly, Benny-boy, I never pegged you for a peeping Tom."

Silence.

"At least you get to say I told you so."

"...What?"

Klaus turned to look at him over his shoulder. He could barely make out Ben's silhouette sitting on the edge of the bed in the darkness of the room.

"You know. About the whole... hustling-for-drugs, hustling-to-repay-my-debt, thing. You said it was the worst idea I'd ever had. You said I was going to get burned. So. You were right. I got burned." Pause. "I got what was coming for me."

"Don't say that."

"It's true" he said with a watery laugh, a shrug "Everybody knows it's true. Five knows it's true. When the guys find out they'll know it's true. Hell, if dear old Reggie was alive right now, he wouldn't hesitate to tell me about how I'm just reaping the oats I've sown fot a _very_ long time."

"Yeah, well dad didn't know shit about shit sometimes."

Klaus was startled to silence by the fierceness in Ben's voice.

Ben's tone was a bit more gentle when he continued.

"What I mean is.. nobody deserves what those.. those _creeps_ did-- tried, doing to you. They set you up. I was scared something like this would happen... I would never think you deserved it though."

Klaus scoffed. He could feel bitterness bubbling up in his chest as he did his best to go for his most nonchalant demeanor.

"I mean, it's the laws of the jungle right? _Weak are meat_ and shit. And all those years of actively looking for trouble... they're bound to catch up to you sometime, right? Nothing's for _free_. Hell, now I'm surprised it didn't happen to me _sooner_."

" _Shut up._ "

The fierceness was back, and Klaus couldn't help but meet his brother's eyes in the darkness. They were wet, his whole body was shaking lightly.

"If you think I get any sort of fucked up, self-righteous satisfaction out of seeing you go through that, you are _wrong_. Maybe our father would. Maybe he was the kind of person that would... that would relish in his kid getting bitten by a fucking snake just because he warned him against approaching it in the first place, but _I'm not like that_. I hate the fact that this happened to you. I hate the fact that we're sitting here right now arguing about whether you _deserved_ any of the crap that happened because _you don't_. It doesn't matter what I said before, it doesn't matter if I warned you or not, _nobody_ deserves this kind of shit, nobody has it _coming_. And if you don't that I would never in a million years wish you any kind of harm to prove a fucking point, then you don't know shit about me."

Silence followed, making the weight of Ben's words sink into Klaus' mind.

He felt a bit awful for feeling so surprised at Ben's emotiveness, at his intensity, at the sheer love he felt radiating from his brother's spirit towards him, that was so impossible to deny now. It was.. overwhelming. He almost felt like turning away just to get some respite from it, but it wouldn't have been fair to Ben's vulnerability, so he held his gaze.

He felt the lump from earlier settle back in his throat, more intensely, and he couldn't keep his eyes from watering again.

"Why.. why weren't you there?" he choked out, and he knew he was being selfish for even asking, but he couldn't find it in him to make the words stop pouring out of him "Why did you leave me?"

Ben's face twisted in contrition.

"Klaus, I... I didn't. I mean, I _did_. I mean--" Ben let out a frustrated growl. He took a deep breath, trying to reorganize his thoughts, before continuing.

"I was so _angry_ at you. I was so angry at you for... for thinking so _little_ of yourself. For feeling like you were worth so little, that you would actually...--" Ben shook his head, lost in thought. He wasn't even looking at Klaus anymore. His gaze was lost in the distance, lost in the past. Klaus could practically see the events of the last couple of days flashing before Ben's eyes "But I think what I was most angry about was the situation. _My_ situation. The fact that I wanted nothing more than to stop you, I don't know _knock you out_ if I had to.. but I couldn't. All I had was my words, and when you wouldn't listen to _that_ even when I was yelling my head off, I.. I felt so goddamn _powerless_. I couldn't even go to the others and tell them what was going on."

Klaus felt a stab of guilt at Ben's words. It forced him to think about what he would do, how he would react if any of his other siblings had done what he did that day. And then, to not be able to do a thing about it..

He always figured that as long as he wasn't hurting anyone else, he had every right to put himself through the ringer if it meant feeling a little better. Whatever it took to make it through the day. It was his body, his mind, _his soul_ , after all. What right had anyone else to tell him what to do?

He never considered how awful it must be, for Ben especially, to be relegated to a passive watcher every single day, an audience of one, to his brother's own slow self-destruction.

 _God_ , Klaus thought, _he was such a shitty brother_.

"So I decided I wasn't gonna be a part of it. I just couldn't watch you go through something like that. But... I didn't abandon you. I just.. I had to do _something_. So I went around trying to get some of the other's attention, to no avail of course. And then I saw Five in the kitchen..."

Ben let out a small chuckle as he looked back at Klaus. He almost looked.. a little _proud_.

"I don't know how I did it, Klaus. But I did it. I moved one of the kitchen cabinets, just a little bit, but it was enough. Enough for Five to look up just at the right moment, to see you walking out the door.. and then I just prayed he would realize something was wrong, follow you out."

"Oh my god," said Klaus, turning his body towards Ben, tears forgotten for a second in his astonishment "Oh my god, that's how he found me."

"Yeah." the little smile was still playing on his lips, and Klaus felt his heart soar at the sight. "He almost lost you, though. I had to figure out a way to get him to go down the right street. I can't believe I was able to do it _twice_."

"Oh my god, that's _amazing_!" Klaus said, smiling now too "I can't believe you were able to-- what did you do the second time?"

"I got a plastic bag to fly over the sign of McLaren street. Figured it couldn't get more straightforward than that."

They both snickered in the silence, the weight of the day's past events lost in the hilarious notion of Ben possessing a plastic bag to show Five the way, and then Five actually _going for it_.

"So it's thanks to you nothing happened to me." said Klaus, sobering up a little.

Ben shrugged "It was all Five. I just... lead him to you. Well, I showed him where to look." He paused. "I didn't _abandon_ you. I could _never_ abandon you."

Klaus felt his eyes water with renewed potency, but for a completely different reason. This time, he didn't try holding the tears back. He just laid on his back and closed his eyes, letting them overflow to his cheeks. His voice came to him in a hoarse whisper.

"Thank you... I don't think... I've ever really thanked you for, for... for looking after me all the time. I know what a pain in the ass I can be. And I know you don't have to.. and I'm... fuck, I'm _sorry_ , I'm just so fucking sorry..."

"Sorry about what?"

Klaus opened his eyes with a sharp inhale, looking around the room, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness in search for the source of the voice.

His eyes finally fixed themselves on a small shadow on the doorway.

"Five?" he asked, with a rasp in his voice.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. The door was open."

"Oh." Klaus said, getting about his bearings. Ben had moved to the foot of the bed, presumably to give Five space in case he wanted to come closer "It's ok. I was just surprised, is all."

An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Klaus felt like he should probably say something now that he was in a much more lucid state of mind than when his brother had initially found him. Who knows, something to reassure him, perhaps? Something to convince him that he was a-ok, he didn't need to worry about him anymore? He was safe?

But for the life of him, he just couldn't seem to find the right words. Anything that came up to him in his mind sounded awfully trite or awkward, so he finally gave up and decided he would wait for Five to make the first move.

After a couple of seconds through, he was starting to wonder if that had really been the best idea. He found Five's ability to stay completely silent and unmoving both impressive and unnerving.

He wondered if that was something he'd learned to do while working in the Commission, or if that had always been a characteristic of his.

He finally decided to break the silence.

"Was there... anything you wanted to tell me?" he tried, weakly.

He thought he'd seen Five's shadow shift a bit on his feet.

"I just.. I guess I just wanted to know if you were ok."

"Oh.. yeah, yeah... I'm ok, I'm..." he let a yawn escape his lips, realizing the mental and emotional exhaustion of the day was finally catching up to him "...starting to feel kinda sleepy, actually."

"Good." Five nodded "That's a good thing."

Pause.

"I think we should talk about what happened." he finally said.

 _Fuck_ , Klaus thought, restraining himself from moaning like a brat. 

He'd already had a heavy heart to heart with Ben.. Klaus didn't think he could handle another one with Five.

What would that even _look like_ , anyway?

"You think it could wait til morning?" he said, with a pleading grimace, doing his best to convey how tired he felt. "I'm so beat.. I just wanna go to sleep."

Five seemed to consider this for a moment before giving in.

"Ok.. rest. We'll talk in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight." said Klaus, turning himself to the wall in the opposite direction of the doorway and closing his eyes.

_Fat chance._

* * *

"You're being childish." Ben remarked, his arms folded over his chest as he watched Klaus accomodate himself inside his closet "He just wants to _talk_."

" _Hence._ " Klaus hissed back, making a vague hand gesture to his current predicament before closing the doors behind him as softly as he could manage.

It had been like that all day.

Klaus hearing someone mention the name "Five" or Ben alerting him of said brother's close proximity and Klaus slinking into the nearest hiding spot.

"Listen." said Ben's voice, apparating inside the closet next to Klaus and almost succeeding in giving him a heart attack "I've been helping you avoid Five because I figured you needed a bit more time to get ready for this, but no more. He obviously just wants to talk and make sure you're alright. I don't know why you're being like this."

Klaus knew _exactly_ why he was being like this.

The truth was that the idea of discussing the details of the clusterfuck of a situation that transpired the day before, with Five of all people, terrified Klaus. He was the one person Klaus could not deflect with. The one person his bullshit did not work on. He had this uncanny ability to just cut through all the crap of a particular situation and leave the ugly truth bare for the world to see.

It reminded him a bit too much of their father.

The way you just couldn't escape his hawk-like attention when any of them did something to displease him. The eerie perceptiveness for human emotion that all of a sudden reared its head, only used to deconstruct, humiliate and subdue anyone who stepped out of line with a precision and effeciency that would put any psychological warfare tactic to shame.

He remembered how the act of disappointing Reginald Hargreeves became the ultimate disgraceful act in their family. And Klaus... Klaus had always been his father's greatest disappointment, and thus, the biggest disgrace for the Hargreeves household--no, the _Academy_ \-- to suffer.

He still remembered the time they had been trying to stop a house robbery gone wrong. Someone had called the police. Thugs had heard the sirens and panicked, had the whole family tied up and were threatening to commit a mass murder-suicide. Children, too. It was one of their first missions. Reginald had purposefully only sent Klaus and Diego to stop it, saying the two of them with their powers combined would be enough to handle a few amateur delinquents. The problem was, Klaus had been drinking like a fish the night before to rid himself from the horrible visions and voices that wouldn't let him sleep.

It was a complete shitshow.

While Diego had been busy fending off two of the assailants, the last of them had managed to sneak up on Klaus. He'd ended up with a busted face, a dislocated shoulder and a twisted ankle before barely managing to make it out of there with his life, only thanks to one of Diego's knives which lodged itself into the guy's right eye last second, right before he was about to finish Klaus off.

He remembered how there hadn't been a car to pick them up from the scene and Klaus had to lean on Diego the entire way home.

He remembered how Reginald had been waiting for them on the steps of the entryway to the house. How he'd instructed Diego to go ahead inside, and when he protested, Reginald repeated his order with renewed vigor leaving no room for arguments. And then, only then, when it was just the two of them, did Reginald look him up and down with utter disgust painted on his features and say "Pitiful.", before going back inside and leaving him there.

Klaus never knew what it was about himself, what was _wrong_ with him exactly, that Reginald could never quite mold into being the soldier he'd wanted. No matter how many visits to the mausoleum, no matter how many laps he made him run on the premises, no matter how many verbal and psychological attacks Klaus endured in an effort to make him stronger, tougher... he would simply bounce right back, and stay being little old Klaus. Weak. Fragile. Soft. Afraid. And all the work that had been put into shaping him into a perfect agent of justice would be for nothing.

So no.. showing weakness had never gone well in their household. It was the ultimate embarrassment. The ultimate _disgrace_.

And Klaus knew he was disgraceful.. but he didn't need someone riding him over it. 

Over the things he already hated about himself and picket apart _for himself_.

And this is exactly why, in general, Klaus would avoid hanging out too much with his older brother. He just... had too much shit to unpack. And he could usually get away with it, too. All he had to do was stay clear of the ex-assassin on a normal day, not do anything to draw his attention to him, push at his buttons just the right ammount of times to annoy him into thinking there was nothing to see there. Nothing worth discussing, nothing worth noticing. Because Klaus knew that the _second_ something became the object of Five's razor focus, he never let it go until he got to the bottom of things.

And that's exactly what Klaus was afraid had just happened with _him_. 

And now... more than ever... he just couldn't--

Klaus rolled his eyes at Ben melodramatically.

"He wants to talk because he feels _responsible_ , Ben. He was the one to find me, he was the one that pulled me out of that place and I'm pretty sure at least two of those guys had to have died from shock. He wants to talk to me because that's what you're _supposed_ to do. I'm just.. I'm saving him-- _and me_ , from further embarrassment and awkwardness alright? After today he'll be able to say _he tried_ and we'll all just put this to sleep."

"Wanna bet?" Ben mumbled.

Klaus felt a sudden stab of irritation "Listen, if you're not gonna help me look out for Five, then you might as well just _piss off_ because I'm sure as hell not going anywhere until I am 100% sure it is a Five-free zone. For the next 10 to 12 hours, at least."

Ben shrugged "Suit yourself."

And just like that, he was gone. Again.

Klaus let out an exasperated sigh as he grumbled about traitorous brothers and about how he absolutely was _not_ being childish, thank you very much. He just.. did not want to talk about what he did not want to talk about, that was all. He couldn't see what the big deal was.

So he stayed in the closet. And when he got hungry, he waited until he could hear voices from other people like Allison or Luther coming from downstairs to join them and not let there be any opportunity for Five to catch him alone, just like he'd done at breakfast. If Five asked to talk to him in front of the others, he'd make up a reason to pospone it like "Oh I'm sorry, I actually really wanted to help Allison pick out her outfit for a date she's having tomorrow!" or "Actually, I really wanted to watch Die Hard with Diego right now" (because he knew Diego would never pass up the opportunity to watch Die Hard), and because there seemed to be a tacit understanding between him and Five that nobody else would know about what had happened until Klaus was ready to talk about it with the rest--if he ever was ready--, and so Five was unable to call him out on it without drawing the others' attention.

Five's patience was wearing thin, however. This resulted in a progressively more and more disgruntled Five throughout the day.

This all came to a head when Klaus couldn't resist the temptation to run downstairs for a quick snack at about 8pm.

He hadn't heard any movement from downstairs or the adjacent bedrooms in a while now. Surely he could do a quick run to the kitchen, grab something from the fridge and scurry back in without anyone noticing.

He tiptoed all the way to the kitchen, tried opening a cabinet until he noticed it was too creaky and stopped. Fine. He decided dishes were overrated, anyway. He went over to the fridge and started opening it excruciatingly slow so as to try to minimize the sound. He noticed Ben watching him from the corner of his eye with the most unimpressed expression he'd seen on him yet.

"You're pathetic." he said, matter of factly.

Klaus conformed himself with making an ugly face at him and resuming his efforts.

It took him an agonizingly long time to be able to grab a goddamn apple and close the damn refrigerator.

Deeming the operation a success, he turned to Ben with a triumphant grin, tossing the fruit and catching it midair, kissing it and directing a derisive smirk at his brother. Ben just rolled his eyes at him.

"Congratulations, the apple is yours, there is nothing ridiculous about this entire situation at all." he drawled.

Klaus ignored him. If his brother was trying to rile him up with the intention of provoking a noise out of him, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

With this thought in mind he turned to make his way up the stairs, when the sight before him elicited an undignified screech from the séance, making him toss the apple over his head.

For a moment, there was not a single sound that could be heard except for the dull thud of the fruit when making its impact on the floor and then rolling away to a corner of the kitchen, Five standing only a couple of feet away, a deep scowl in place as he directed an intense glare at his brother.

"Five!" Klaus finally said, trying to cover up the way he felt his heart free-fall to the bottom of his stomach "Haven't seen you all day!"

"I was about to say the same thing." Five said, through gritted teeth.

This was _not_ good.

Klaus let out a nervous giggle as his eyes darted to a very self-satisfied looking Ben.

 _I'm going to kill you_ he tried telling him with his eyes.

 _Again?_ Ben's infuriatingly smug shrug said back.

"Klaus."

His attention was snapped back at where Five kept looking at him, unfazed.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday."

_Shitshitshitshitshi---_

Klaus facepalmed dramatically, screwing his eyes shut.

"Oh, _right_! That! I had _completely_ forgotten about our little talk, so many things to do and all--"

"Klaus."

He'd started subconsciously backing away from Five and around the kitchen table, Five following with slow steps.

"You know I would really like to talk about it... you know I could never pass up quality time with one of my favorite brothers _willingly_ , but I'm afraid my schedule is just full... to the brim.."

"Klaus...--"

"..and I just can't help that I'm so popular, you know? Everyone wants a piece of this and there's just not enough to go around. It's a tragedy, really. One day, modern science will catch up with the fact that the world is in dire need of more Me's, and a solution will be found. For now, I think a raincheck could be in order? Maybe tomorrow? Next week? I'll let you know. Anyway, toodles!"

He all but bolted up the stairs once he had finished his little tirade, rounding the table, in a desperate move to avoid the conversation Five was obstinately trying to force on him, when halfway up, a blue flash cracked right in front of him.

" _Enough!_ " bellowed Five, materializing himself right up in his face, expression the stormiest Klaus had seen in a long time "You and I have pending business to discuss and I am _not_ leaving you alone until we discuss it!"

" _Shhhh!_ Keep your voice down, they will _hear_ you!" hissed Klaus, nervously glancing over Five's shoulder to make sure nobody had come out to see what was going on.

"If you don't want me to raise my voice, then stop acting like a child that needs scolding." said Five in a threatening voice "We'll go downstairs and talk like _adults_ , because that's what we are and that is what needs to be done. It's either that, or you get to explain to the others why I'm making such a racket. Your choice."

Klaus was cornered and he knew it.

It was either discuss the nitty gritty details he'd rather forget with Five, or discuss the nitty gritty details he'd rather forget with _all of them_ once they inevitably found out the reason Five was making a ruckus. Either way, Five would get his answers.

It wasn't fair.

"I hate you." he heard himself mutter half-heartedly.

Five didn't even flinch.

"I can take it." he motioned with his hand for Klaus to lead the way downstairs and back to the kitchen.

* * *

They were both seated in front of the little kitchen table, both with steaming cups sitting before them.

As soon as Klaus had set foot inside the room, he'd offered to make Five some coffee, saying he wanted to make himself some tea while he was at it.

Five had accepted.

Now, there was nothing left to do but talk.

They might as well get this over with.

"So." Klaus said, breaking the silence and trying to stop himself from squirming "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Five said without hesitation, looking him straight in the eye "I want you to tell me everything, starting from the beginning."

Klaus heaved a deep sigh as he leaned backwards in his chair, trying to organize the events of the past few days in a coherent order in his head.

"A few days ago, I ran into my old drug dealer, Jeremy while I was out on my way to buy groceries for the house. I wasn't trying to bump into him, or anything. I was just trying to take a shortcut to the supermarket.. when I saw him. He called me over, I went, and we got to talking, and... well.. before I knew it I was asking him about the new merchandise and whether he had any _vintage customer discounts_ that I didn't know about." he fidgeted in his chair, trying to stay on track despite Five's unrelenting gaze.

"He started saying how I owed him a ton of money from before I got clean.. how I could kiss any hope for any more drugs goodbye, and how he'd be on my ass til kingdom come unless I settled my debt with him." Klaus took a deep breath, steeling himself for the next part of the story "That's when it came up, the uh.. the hustling part. He said that he had a way of helping me settle my debt easier, faster. That all it would take would be for me to meet up with some guys that he knew a few times, and I would have a clean slate."

Klaus tried to ignore the way Five's knuckles had turned white from where he was gripping his coffee cup.

He focused on the light "ting" his finger made when he flicked it gently against the ceramic handle of his cup. He continued.

"I figured.. what's the big deal? I've done this tons of times before, _for free_.. just for pleasure. I might as well clear my debt.. score a little something and get laid while doing it, right? Not a big deal at _all_." Klaus scoffed, turning his gaze towards his lap where his hands started anxiously rubbing against each other "Except it turns out! hustling is actually a _lot_ harder than I thought it would be. I mean.. maybe not the mechanics of it, but just.. the getting into the right frame of mind to get yourself to actually _do it_. I found myself freaking out all the way to the place we agreed to meet up."

He looked up to where Ben was perched a few feet away behind Five, leaning against the sink.

His eyes were sad.

"And Ben was mad at me." he whispered. He let the statement hang in the air for a moment, before clearing his voice and continuing "Anyway, I should've known it was a shit deal. The apartment was shady as fuck, but I guess I was too nervous to think much of it. I finally got my nerve up and went inside to meet my first John.. when I realized there were three men waiting for me, not one."

Klaus could feel the waterworks coming and _dammit_ why did he always have to be so fucking--

He breathed through it, swallowing hard and trying to push down the feeling as much as he could.

"Anyway, that's when I _really_ started to freak out, cause we hadn't said anything about meeting more than one John at a time, no matter what Jeremy says. And it became pretty obvious right away that these weren't any regular fuckin' Johns, either you know? They looked too clean-cut, and _they knew who I was_. I think it was all part of a weird Umbrella Academy fetish thing. Got their rocks off at the idea of gang-banging the kid that had been on the national news fighting criminals or whatever."

He knew he was pretty much at the end of their story. That he could stop now, and Five would pretty much have the whole picture up until the moment he walked in.

However, Klaus felt the need to push through even further. He was already this far gone. Five already knew what a disgusting excuse he had for a sibling--someone who would willingly sell their body to strangers for nothing but a few pills. He might as well use this opportunity to somehow purge, to _exorcise_ the ugliness that had been sitting on his chest, keeping him from breathing a true lungful of air since it happened.

He continued with what felt like gravel in his voice.

"Anyway, as I said, I started freaking out.. I think I made some kind of movement to imply I wanted to get out of there, cause that's when Jeremy came at me. Started telling me about how much I _owed_ him, and how he was doing me a _favor_ by letting me off the hook so easy, and that's when I knew I started losing it cause I couldn't move. I just fuckin' _freezed_ , and suddenly I couldn't even see anything, everything was spinning so fucking fast and all I could do was stand there, and feel them as they touched me all over and started taking my.. my clothes off.." Klaus swallowed, his voice veering off in the last sentence with a tremble.

Klaus made eye contact with Five for the first time since he started telling his story.

He looked _livid_.

"...and that's when you came in." Klaus finished, with a small voice.

There was silence.

Their drinks had gone cold.

Five wasn't even looking at him anymore, he was looking somewhere in the distance with that same, seething expression. 

Klaus could see the way his chest was rising and falling, rising and falling, as if he was on the verge of losing control of his emotions.

"I'm proud of you, Klaus." he heard Ben say, from the foreground.

Klaus ventured a small, closed-lip smile in his direction.

Those five words... those five words and Klaus felt as if a drop of gold had made its way through the cold, broken cracks and directly into his heart.

It didn't make everything ok... but it was something.

It made him feel as if he'd done something _right_ , for once. Which considering the context, probably didn't count for much, but Klaus would take whatever he could get at this point.

"And this... Jeremy." He heard Five finally rasp out "Was he the one who got away?"

Klaus took a moment to think about it. He hadn't really paid much attention at the time, still in shock from both Jeremy's ministrations and the sight of his brother performing as the perfect killing machine he'd told them all he was.

He finally remembered vaguely seeing Jeremy from the corner of his eye, bolting for the door when Five was in the middle of wasting the second man.

Klaus nodded.

Five nodded back "Very well... and does this Jeremy have a last name?"

Klaus gave him a funny look, the question odd enough to break him from his flashback "Um... I guess? I don't know what it is though.. we didn't exactly have the kind of relationship in which you exchange last names."

Five gave a frustrated sigh "Of course." he paused, anxiously tapping the table with his fingers "You know if he lives in the general area of the neighbourhood we were in, yesterday?"

Klaus turned his body towards Five, brow furrowed "Why do you wanna know?"

"Isn't it obvious?" when Klaus just gave him a blank stare, Five blinked and said "I'm going to kill him, of course."

" _What?_ " Klaus scoffed in disbelief, looking at Five, scandalized "Five, _no_."

Five banged his hand on the table, raising his voice " _Why the hell not?_ "

" _Because!_!" Klaus raised his voice to match his brother's, before burying his face in his hands and groaning.

This was _not_ happening.

"You mean to tell me" Five seethed "that I had to drag my brother out of that _shithole_ , pry you from the hands of a bunch of _perverts_ , pants _barely_ on--"

" _I'm sorry_!" Klaus exclaimed, raising his head to face his brother "Is that what you wanna hear? Are you satisfied? I'm sorry that _once again_ someone had to clean up after my shit and _I'm sorry_ that this time it was _you_ , alright? I don't know what's wrong with me. And _I'm sorry_ you had to button my pants like I was a _child_ and _I'm sorry_ you had to kill all those people and _I'm fuckin' sorry_ I puked all over your shoes and the bushes afterwards! There!" Klaus sighed "Can we please let this go now?" Klaus finished, feeling tired.

Five looked at him like he had lost his mind "Wha-- No!"

" _Why not?!_ "

Five was looking at him that way again. The way that made Klaus feel like he was under a laser microscope. A gaze so piercing and intense it never failed to make Klaus squirm and want to do anything but be there under such scrutiny.

When Five spoke up again, his voice was calmer, but if anything his tone was even more fervent than it was before, as he leaned closer.

"Klaus, I don't give a _fuck_ about the _damn_ bushes. I don't give a _fuck_ about the damn shoes. And I'm _certainly_ not looking for any damn _apologies_. What I care about, is _you_."

And that.. well.. that completely disarmed Klaus.

Out of all the things he was expecting to hear Five say.. that was not one of them.

He almost felt like pinching himself to see if he was dreaming this stuff up, imagining the unrestrained vulnerability of his brother's response, the way he wasn't even trying to hide how much he _cared_.

For _Klaus_. 

Who knows, maybe he'd passed out in his closet because of lack of oxygen and blood circulation and he'd been hallucinating all this while.

It took him a minute to process this new input of information, and even when he felt ready to talk again, he felt as though he was speaking through a fog in his brain.

Klaus cleared his throat, his brows still furrowed in confusion "But.. you were so angry at me.. for getting myself in that situation. You were _ashamed_."

"I wasn't _asham_ \--"

"You couldn't even look at me!"

"That's...!" Five growled, and the sound kind of scared Klaus a little "That's because every time I _looked_ at you, all I wanted to do was go back to that shithole, finish those assholes off and then go and hunt down the last remaining bastard who was _lucky_ enough to get away, and make him suffer the most painfully unbearable death possible...! And you didn't need that at the time. You needed someone to take care of you. You needed a _brother_ , not an _assassin_."

And what was Klaus supposed to say to that?

For once, he was at a total loss for words.

(It seemed to be the last couple of day's novelty.)

So he just shut up. He shut up and listened to what his brother had to say.

"And I'm sorry if it seemed like.. like I was distant.. or _ashamed_ or whatever. I _wasn't_. I was just _this close_ to losing it, all the time, and.." Five's words veered off in a tired exhale as he rubbed at his face with both his hands, as if it was literally paining him to recount the emotions he'd experiencing during the aforementioned incident.

Without thinking, Klaus reached out to gently put his hand on top of his arm, making Five turn to look at him, looking exhausted.

Klaus gave him a small, wavering smile that danced somewhere between reassuring and apologetic. Maybe a bit of both.

It felt like catharsis.

Like forgiveness.

Like a bridge being built across an entire ocean.

And for a full minute, all either of them could do was _breathe_.

In and out, in and out.

More deeply than they had been able to do ever since the entire affair had taken place.

They held each other's gaze, relishing in the painful understanding they finally shared.

"And I'm _so sorry_ that you had to go through any of that." whispered Five, sounding so much younger than his 58 years.

And it was like a light had somehow manifested itself from nowhere, shining onto Klaus, providing him with unmistakeable clarity.

He'd been so wrong.

He'd been so _stupid_.

It was undeniable, now.

Klaus could not believe how he could not know that Five was kinder than their father could _ever_ be.

He was wrong in thinking of him as a reflection of their old man. 

After all, wasn't Five the one who took him to mom all those years back to set his dislocated shoulder, when Reginald had simply walked away? When Reginald had deemed him as nothing but "pitiful"?

Five had seen Klaus as something beyond a machine, beyond a soldier, he'd seen a brother.

He had _always_ been kinder.

Despite the universe's countless attempts to harden him beyond recognition, to snuff out his humanity.. refusing to even give him a name, forcing him to face four entire decades on his own... forcing him to become a _killer_ in order to survive..

...he was _still_ kind.

_"He just wants to talk, he just wants to see that you're alright"_

Ben had known.

God.. and Klaus had been so utterly blind all this time.

"I know" said Klaus, squeezing his brother's arm, fighting the tears that were already so close to spilling "I'm ok, though." he smiled "You were there."

The corner of Five's mouth finally twitched up a little bit.

And it felt like hope.

"Yeah." he agreed "I was there."

* * *

A cold, rainy night.

Lightning relentlessly struck outside.

There was a man who had been tied to a chair with razor wire.

His wrists and his ankles were bleeding from where the barbs buried themselves into his skin.

Duct tape was sealing his mouth shut, going all around his head to his lips a few times. The skin around it noticeably irritated from the pressure.

There was a boy before him. Couldn't be older than 14 years of age, although every time Jeremy managed to have a good look into his eyes, the knowledge and experience he saw reflected back was nothing short of _unnatural_.

The boy wasn't looking at him. He was staring out the window almost wistfully, his hands behind his back holding a combat knife that shined with every thunder strike.

Jeremy knew he was a dead man.

He knew it from the moment he'd realized he'd been hunted down by the same freak of nature that had killed his premium clients a few days before.

The ones that were meant to make him _thousands_. And all at the expense of some has-been junkie, no less. Nobody was supposed to know, nobody was supposed to _care_.

But someone _had_ cared.

And now, he was neck deep in this mess.

He'd tried keeping a low profile, tried telling himself he'd be forgotten about if he only waited long enough. That he wasn't that important. Nothing had actually _happened_ , after all. 

He hadn't lasted three days without being found.

God, forgive him.

When the boy spoke, he did so with an eerie calm. The umbridled rage Jeremy had witnessed on his little rampage the days before nowhere to be seen. 

"You know.. when this whole thing started... I thought my brother had simply sneaked out to score from some street scumbag." he murmured "I was gonna figure out who the asshole dealing to my little brother-- who had been trying so hard to stay clean--, was. I was going to come over and I was going to threaten you. I was going to tell you that if I _ever_ caught you dealing to him again, I was going to cut off all your fingers and feed them to you so that you never felt the need to deal to anyone again."

The boy seemed to examine his knife under the flashing of light outside, seemingly lost in thought.

Finally, after a few moments of apparent rumination, he stepped away from the window to level a look at Jeremy with something slightly unhinged in his blue eyes betraying his perfect composure.

The hairs on the back of Jeremy's neck stood up.

"But you... you tried pimping my brother out to your fucking cronies... in exchange for the settlement of a debt _we both know_ was never going to be settled... because _you_ would make sure he _never_ got off the drugs, wouldn't you? You tried making my brother your _whore_."

Jeremy was frantically shaking his head from one side to another, wiggling his wrists in his restraints, not minding the damage he made to himself with his wild movements.

A flash of blue, and the boy was suddenly in front of him, so close Jeremy could feel his breath on his face.

The boy pressed the flat part of his knife to his cheek, making him give out a muffled yelp. Not pressing enough to do any damage, just enough so that he could feel the contrast of the cold of the blade on the heat of his flushed face.

"I know what you are. You're the fucking wolf parents tell their children to look out for in the world." the boy said, in a ragged growl "No regards to the people that happen upon your path, no regards for the _lives_ you ruin, as long as you get yours. You lurk in the corners and you take and take and _take_ from more vulnerable people than yourself, without a care in the world for _anything_.." he suddenly pushed the sharp edge on Jeremy's face, making the skin break and the man give out a painful yell "..or _anyone_.." he pressed again.

There were red rivulets dripping down the dealer's face. He was squirming, crying pitifully. He distantly noted he had soiled himself.

The boy waited until his captive settled down, until he opened his eyes and looked at him once more.

"But you messed up, you see..." he almost whispered, as he looked deep into his eyes "... cause _I'm_ a wolf, too. And so I know... that there's only one true way to deal with wolves."

Jeremy couldn't help himself from crying loudly, his pleads for his life lost in the tape that turned his words into unintelligible moans.

"So this is what's gonna happen." the boy continued, paying no mind to the senseless noise coming from the man before him.

"I'm going to cut off your fucking face. I'm going to peel it off of you real slow, and when I'm done, I'm going to _castrate_ you and then, only then, am I going to slit your fucking throat and let you bleed to death."

* * *

it had been a couple of weeks and Klaus was trying to take things _"one day at a time"_ , as Ben had so annoyingly put it.

He still wasn't ready to talk about what had happened with the rest of his siblings. There was still too much guilt and shame intertwined with that incident for him to be able to willingly open that door. 

But it was getting better.

He still got "the shakes" sometimes. He still got bouts of feeling worthless, restless and the compulsion to be self-destructive against all logic.

He found that saying "I wanna get high." out loud to someone when he got the urge, helped.

It didn't make it go away. But he felt.. accompanied. Like the pain he felt was being shared by two people instead of just himself. And that comforted him.

Sometimes it would be Diego.

Sometimes it would be Allison.

Most times, it would be Ben.

And sometimes, now, it would be Five. Who would more often than not stick around while the worst of it passed, letting Klaus babble on incessantly at him about insignificant topics, being the irritated audience of one to Klaus' self-described "fashion shows", or whatever he needed to be to help distract his brother from the feeling of wanting to crawl out of his skin.

And when Klaus found himself at the end of one of Five's piercing stares again, he didn't find himself afraid anymore.

He found himself feeling like he had another ally, someone in his corner who would do anything to make sure he was ok if the moment called for it.

Someone who fell easily into the clutches of anger because of the sheer intensity with which he cared for his siblings.

That ferocity-- It wasn't the attack Klaus had once perceived it to be, at all. 

It was a blanket that promised to keep him warm in the coldest of nights.

It was love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No actual wolves were harmed in the making of this fic :v

**Author's Note:**

> Oh you just KNOW I based off Klaus' last outfit on [Keanu Reeves' My Own Private Idaho hustler outfit](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/49/cf/40/49cf409e4056a38f8ab8f208f7d393d0.jpg) cause... idk.
> 
> Get ready because good ol' Five-O is on his way next chapter and he's NOT pulling any punches!! I was going to include him in this one but it kind of got away from me and so I decided to divide this into two chapters... oops. But yeah, don't worry Five is gonna be prominent AF next chapter when shit hits the fan, and hit it, it will.
> 
> I also wanted to mention that the last part is meant to convey how Klaus THINKS the siblings perceive him as a consequence of his self-loathing spiral and not necessarily FACT. So.. make of that what you will :)
> 
> Also, here are the details for the warnings in case anyone needs them:
> 
> -There is a scene in this chapter of sexual harassment from the dealer's part towards Klaus. He makes unwanted advances and touches Klaus in a creepy and definitely out-of-bounds way and Klaus is unable to respond to this because he freezes.  
> -The dealer basically proposes to pimp out Klaus to his "friends" so he can work off his debt and keep him hooked on drugs and it's a very uncomfortable and gross experience for Klaus (obviously)  
> -There are self-loathing thoughts that are described in this chapter  
> -There is mention of drug addiction and relapse


End file.
